Something I’ve been struggling with recently is my passion for programming. I work full-time as a programmer and I’m also pursuing a degree in information technology part-time. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer programming, writing about programming, reading about programming, and thinking about programming. I got to the point where in my free time I didn’t want to be programming. I wanted to use that time for other things since I knew that I would soon be forced go right back to programming. I lost the passion that got me into programming in the first place. So, I took a step back and asked myself what had changed. I set out on a short mission to rediscover my passion for programming. What I found was that I still had my passion for programming and that it had never left. My passion is what was driving my work and my school, I was just not applying it to my free time as well. I realized two things:
Programming in my free time should be fun.
I should not feel stressed about not getting something done or artificial deadlines. This programming should only be to further my knowledge.
To increase my knowledge and become better programmer, I do not necessarily have to be programming.
Currently I’m learning to draw so that I can understand the basics of design. This doesn’t have me in front of a computer typing but rather has me in front of a paper with a pencil. No programming involved and it will still (hopefully) help me become a better web developer.
More important than being a better programmer, discovering passion, or anything else discussed in this post is that I am constantly growing as a person, in one area or another.